One of the key locations in my novel, All the Flowers of the Mountain, is the beloved restaurant in Sugar Hill, NH, Polly’s Pancake Parlor. Not long ago, Kathie, the owner of Polly’s, sent me a photo of this decorative plate which was among her mother Nancy’s treasured belongings.

The image on this plate is of the house my family owned in Sugar Hill in the 1970s and 80s. This beautiful rambling home was the inspiration for “Cedaredge” (the much more grandly construed estate and farm in my novel).

As it turns out, the house had another name – “The Wayside” – and was also owned at one time by Kathie Aldrich’s family.

Sadly, this house is now gone. But in its place is my connection to Kathie, to her mother Nancy who was the first person to give me—an inexperienced kid whose family were “summer people” in Sugar Hill—a real job, at Polly’s. I am honored that we share a memory of a unique and beautiful time and place in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The pancakes, maple syrups and spreads are still as mind-blowingly delicious as they were 50 years ago (my favorite: cornmeal walnut). For a classic New England summer experience, treat yourself to breakfast Polly’s!